{"id":2572,"date":"2025-08-07T12:13:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T12:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=2572"},"modified":"2025-08-07T12:13:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T12:13:45","slug":"winemaker-interview-series-cabell-coursey-of-chev-cirq-lombardi-may-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=2572","title":{"rendered":"Winemaker Interview Series &#8211; Cabell Coursey of CHEV, CIRQ, &#038; Lombardi &#8211; May 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cabell-Coursey-of-CHEV-Cirq-Lombardi-Blog-Home.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2577\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cabell-Coursey-of-CHEV-Cirq-Lombardi-Blog-Home-230x300.gif\" alt=\"Cabell Coursey\" width=\"230\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, we had the opportunity to interview <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winebusiness.com\/news\/article\/293577\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Cabell Coursey<\/strong><\/a>. Cabell is the winemaker for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chevwines.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CHEV<\/strong><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cirq.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CIRQ<\/strong><\/a>, and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lombardiwines.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lombardi Wines<\/a><\/strong>. We covered four CHEV wines, three Lombardi wines, and the most recent Cirq. All eight wines were from the 2022 vintage. These wines are considered premium offerings and are available to members who sign up for allocations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits that Cabell shared in the interview.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cabell started his career in Burgundy.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He went to the University of Dijon<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He received his MS in Enology and Viticulture from Lincoln University in New Zealand.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He has worked in Germany, France, New Zealand &amp; Australia.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He did 4 harvests in 1 year in Germany.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He worked 3 years in France.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He did one harvest on New Zealand and Australia.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cabell likes to use his senses and chemistry in his winemaking.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He also prefers a slow vs. fast press approach.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He was the winemaker at Dumol and then was hired by Kosta Browne. (Both he and Tony worked at Kosta Browne)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cabell did consulting and winemaking for Flanagan from 2013 to 2020.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Christine and Tony Lombardi started their Lombardi brand in 2013.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They started with a barrel of Chardonnay and a barrel of Pinot Noir.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He initially had his production at the Coursey Graves facility. As of 2024 they are now a Rodney Strong&#8217;s custom crush facility.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Tony grew up with Michael Browne and Dan Kosta.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Tony prefers a Chablis style for his Chardonnay.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Tony&#8217;s &#8220;Sonoma Coast&#8221; Pinot is a blend of Martaella and Gap\u2019s Crown vineyards.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Tony&#8217;s Gap&#8217;s Crown Pinot comes from Block 13 which is 100% 777 clone.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cabell likes the lower vines in this vineyard. Cooler temperatures.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Sarah and Michael Browne are the co-owners of Browne Family Wines, which includes CHEV and CIRQ.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Some tidbits on the CHEV wines.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The 2022 CHEV wines were made by Jeremiah Timm who is now Director of Winemaking at Paul Hobbs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cabell finished the blends in 2023. He fully made the 2024 wines.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Michael Browne is very involved with the picking decisions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The CHEV 2022 Chard was sourced from Ritchie, Bootleggers Hill, &amp; Ellen&#8217;s Lane.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The 2022 Santa Rita Hills comes from a high elevation site called the Spear Vineyard.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The 2022 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot was source from Garys&#8217;, Rosella&#8217;s and Sierra Mar Vineyards<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">These Rosella&#8217;s and Sierra Mar Vineyards are owned Gary and Rosella Franscioni. Garys&#8217; is a partnership between Gary Franscioni and Gary Pisoni.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We also learned that Michael, Adam Lee, Gary Franscioni, and Gary Pisoni are all pretty tight friends.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Pinot Vintage advice from Cabell<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Drink the 2021&#8217;s<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hold the 2023&#8217;s<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In 2023, a big crop allowed them to select the grapes in this vintage.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This vintage will also get even better with some bottle age.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">CIRQ is one wine, each vintage.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It is 100% Russian River fruit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Typically it is 100 to 150 barrels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The 2022 vintage was sourced mainly from the Giudici Vineyard, along with some from the Graham Vineyard, and the Lazy G Ranch in the Green Valley section of the Russian River.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Below is a summary of the wine offerings from CHEV, Cirq, and Lombardi that we covered with Cabell. The links below are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering and trying these wines, here is how you do it. You can join their allocation lists via these website links. Join <strong><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chevwines.com\/signup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CHEV<\/a>.<\/u><\/strong> Join <strong><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cirq.com\/signup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CIRQ<\/a>.<\/u><\/strong> Join <a href=\"https:\/\/lombardiwines.com\/orders\/?view=signup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>Lombardi<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Lombardi-Wines-Logo.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2574 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Lombardi-Wines-Logo.gif\" alt=\"Lombardi Logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"183\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Lombardi-2022-Chardonnay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Lombardi 2022 Chardonnay &#8220;Russian River Valley&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $56 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Lombardi-2022-Sonoma-Coast-Pinot-Noir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Lombardi 2022 Pinot Noir &#8220;Sonoma Coast&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $56 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 92.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Lombardi-2022-Gaps-Crown-Vineyard-Pinot-Noir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Lombardi 2022 Pinot Noir &#8220;Gaps Crown Vineyard&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Petaluma Gap) $68 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CHEV-Logo.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2575\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CHEV-Logo.gif\" alt=\"CHEV Logo\" width=\"265\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/CHEV-2022-Chardonnay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CHEV 2022 Chardonnay &#8220;Russian River Valley&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $80 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/CHEV-2022-Russian-River-Valley-Pinot-Noir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CHEV 2022 Pinot Noir &#8220;Russian River Valley&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $80 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/CHEV-2022-Santa-Lucia-Highlands-Pinot-Noir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CHEV 2022 Pinot Noir &#8220;Santa Lucia Highlands&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $80 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 94<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/CHEV-2022-Santa-Rita-Hills-Pinot-Noir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CHEV 2022 Pinot Noir &#8220;Santa Rita Hills&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $80 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CIRQ-Logo.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CIRQ-Logo.gif\" alt=\"CIRQ Logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/CIRQ-2021-Pinot-Noir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CIRQ 2021 Pinot Noir &#8220;Russian River Valley&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $150 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 96<\/strong><\/span>) (Covered Previously)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/CIRQ-2022-Pinot-Noir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CIRQ 2022 Pinot Noir &#8220;Russian River Valley&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $175 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 95.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You can find reviews of past and future Lombardi wines that we cover on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine.php?winery=3141\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>Lombardi KWG winery page<\/u><\/strong> <\/a>on our website. The same goes for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine.php?winery=2696\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>CHEV<\/u><\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine.php?winery=3086\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>CIRQ<\/u><\/strong><\/a>. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! \u2013 Ken<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, we had the opportunity to interview Cabell Coursey. Cabell is the winemaker for CHEV, CIRQ, and Lombardi Wines. We covered four CHEV wines, three Lombardi wines, and the most recent Cirq. All eight wines were from the 2022 vintage. These wines are considered premium offerings and are available to members [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1883,3032,86,3028,92,3033,13,3029,3030,1118,2049,1889,3031,108,12,1187,2691,102,1893,2492,1120,90,126,8,6,1292,1288],"tags":[2450,3014,1865,3013,3018,3015,2497,1125,3012,491,3001,3002,3009,3011,3017,3007,3019,1483,1162,1475,1448,3023,3024,1874,3025,3026,2404,3016,1497,3027,3006,3004,3003,1564,3010,524,1332,2422,492,1562,3022,1876,1469,373,2378,3021,1124,3020,3008,3005,1482],"class_list":["post-2572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adam-lee","category-browne-family-wines","category-burgundy","category-cabell-coursey","category-california","category-chablis","category-chardonnay","category-chev","category-cirq","category-flanagan","category-gaps-crown","category-garys-vineyard","category-lombardi-wines","category-paul-hobbs","category-pinot-noir","category-red-wine","category-ritchie-vineyard","category-russian-river-valley","category-santa-lucia-highlands","category-santa-rita-hills","category-sonoma-coast","category-white-wine","category-wine-ratings","category-wine-recommendations","category-wine-reviews","category-winemaker","category-zoom-wine-tasting","tag-2022-vintage","tag-777-clone","tag-adam-lee","tag-block-13","tag-bootleggers-hill-vineyard","tag-browne-family-wines","tag-burgundy","tag-cabell-coursey","tag-chablis","tag-chardonnay","tag-chev","tag-cirq","tag-coursey-graves","tag-dan-kosta","tag-director-of-winemaking","tag-dumol","tag-ellens-lane-vineyard","tag-enology","tag-flanagan","tag-gaps-crown-vineyard","tag-gaps-crown","tag-gary-franscioni","tag-gary-pisoni","tag-garys-vineyard","tag-giudici-vineyard","tag-graham-vineyard","tag-green-valley","tag-jeremiah-timm","tag-kosta-browne","tag-lazy-g-ranch","tag-lincoln-university","tag-lombardi","tag-lombardi-wines","tag-martaella-vineyard","tag-michael-browne","tag-new-zealand","tag-paul-hobbs","tag-petaluma-gap","tag-pinot-noir","tag-ritchie-vineyard","tag-rosella-franscioni","tag-rosellas-vineyard","tag-russian-river-valley","tag-santa-lucia-highlands","tag-santa-rita-hills","tag-sierra-mar-vineyard","tag-sonoma-coast","tag-spear-vineyard","tag-tony-lombardi","tag-university-of-dijon","tag-viticulture"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2572"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2581,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572\/revisions\/2581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}